Third-phase water rationing in areas supplied by Taoyuan’s Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫) has been lifted with immediate effect, thanks to heavy rain on Monday night, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
“There is no need to carry out the third-phase water rationing measures in the near future, as we now estimate there will be 47 million cubic meters of water in the Shihmen Reservoir by the end of next month,” Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Yang Wei-fu (楊偉甫) told reporters after a water supply meeting.
The ministry has a meeting on Friday to discuss the areas that depend on the reservoir for water — Taoyuan, as well as parts of New Taipei City and Hsinchu County — but after about 8 million cubic meters of water fell in the facility’s catchment area during heavy rainfall at about midnight on Monday, the ministry lifted the third-phase water rationing measures, Yang said.
Photo: CNA
The reservoir’s water level had risen to above 32 percent of its capacity after the rain, Yang said.
In addition, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) forecast that rainfall is to return to near-normal levels next month, which could ease the water shortage in northern regions, Yang added.
The areas supplied by the reservoir are still in second-phase water rationing, with industrial users’ water supplies cut by 5 percent, while supplies to high-use non-industrial consumers are cut by 20 percent, the ministry said.
However, the rain in the north was not brought by Typhoon Noul, whose impact was limited to the nation’s south, with the catchment areas of the Zengwen Reservoir (曾文水庫) in Chiayi County collecting 300,000 cubic meters of water and the Nanhua Reservoir (南化水庫) in Tainan receiving 100,000 cubic meters, the ministry said.
Yang said Friday’s meeting would include discussions on whether to enact third-phase water rationing in Kaohsiung and Tainan.
Last week, the ministry postponed the measures for another week, as rainfall helped boost the flow of the Gaoping River (高屏溪).
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net